The history of coffee can be traced to as early as the 9th Century. Early stories of the discovery of coffee have been told when it first came to the town of Mandi in the Ethiopian highlands. As the story goes, there was said to be a lowly goat herder by the name of Khalid who had observed that his flock of goats tended to become lively every time they eat the berries off the coffee plant. Quite intrigued by the effect, the goat herder himself tried boiling the coffee beans and thus became the first discovery of coffee as a drink.

The popularity of coffee as a drink later on spread from Ethiopia to Egypt and Yemen where they were sold by merchants. Early version of coffee had the beans directly boiled and then drank. It was in Arabia that the coffee beans were first being roasted and brewed that has become the practice still today. The popularity of this beverage soon spread to other countries. By the 15th Century, coffee drinking has spread to the rest of the Middle East as well as to Persia, Turkey and Northern Africa.

Coffee was first introduced in Europe by way of Italy. Trading between Venice and the Middle East as well as Egypt and parts of North Africa began thriving. Through this route, coffee found its way to the Venetian ports and was then introduced as a drink to Italians. From there it was introduced to the rest of Europe. Its popularity became so great that it led to the establishment of the coffee houses in Europe, the first one being opened in Italy in 1645.

Coffee then spread to parts of Asia by way of the Dutch explorers who brought with them coffee seeds that they planted in their colonies in Java and Ceylon. The introduction of coffee in North America was not as widely accepted initially as compared to other countries. It was brought along the American shores along with tea by the English colonizers. But it was tea that first became the accepted beverage. Not until the English limited the supply of tea in North America did the Americans grow to prefer coffee as their beverage of choice.

Throughout history, coffee has been a widely accepted beverage and its popularity grew due to its highly stimulating effects. It is also for this reason that coffee drinking during ancient times was widely associated with spiritual practices. Coffee drinking has since become a regular ritual among many people and its popularity seems to grow bigger and bigger everyday.

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Related Terms: coffee beans, coffee houses, coffee plant, dutch explorers, history of coffee